“We have to protect Lake Okeechobee. The water and the nutrients are coming from the north. It doesn’t make any sense to clean it going south. We have to focus on the source of the water, clean it there and store it there to reduce the flow to the lake. That is just common sense,” […]

]]>“We have to protect Lake Okeechobee. The water and the nutrients are coming from the north. It doesn’t make any sense to clean it going south. We have to focus on the source of the water, clean it there and store it there to reduce the flow to the lake. That is just common sense,” Dr. Brian Lapointe of Florida Atlantic University’s Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute told the Florida Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, Environment and General Government on Jan. 9.

Dr. Lapointe urged the senators to use science, not politics, to guide decisions on water quality issues. The research professor explained some of the misconceptions about the watershed issues.

The “send it south” slogan is a distraction, he told the senators. Dirty water is coming from north of the lake and should be cleaned before it goes into the lake, Dr. Lapointe said. “Send it south” is promoted by some environmental groups who claim excess water from Lake Okeechobee should go south into the Everglades instead of east and west to the Caloosahatchee and St. Lucie rivers. He said sending water from Lake Okeechobee south into the Everglades is not possible during the wet season.

“When it’s wet north of the Everglades and there are high water levels in Lake Okeechobee, the Everglades has high water levels, too, so the whole idea of moving water south is complicated. How can you move it south when there is already too much water?” he asked.

Two years ago, they had to move water uphill into the lake from the south, he explained. In 2016, heavy rainfall south of the lake resulted in flooding in the Everglades, threatening native wildlife. Millions of gallons of clean freshwater were pumped north into Lake Okeechobee to reduce flooding in the Everglades.

Dr. Lapointe said theories that Florida Bay needs more freshwater are unproven. “There is still no published peer-reviewed paper showing that high salinity kills those sea grasses,” he said.

“That was the perception in the 1990s, which George Barley believed, which led to the flooding of the bay and all of the damage that occurred in the Florida Keys,” he said. “There was no published science to support that. That was politics.” Even if Florida Bay needed more freshwater, if the natural flow from the lake were restored to the south, the water wouldn’t go to Florida Bay, he said. “You hear we should send the lake releases to Florida Bay. The reality is flow from Central Everglades does not go to Florida Bay,” Dr. Lapointe explained.
“You hear this today: ‘The Corps of Engineers drained the Everglades, and the national park is starved for water.’ You hear that a lot, but just the opposite is true. The flow of water to the park has been measured every day by United States Geological Survey since Oct. 1, 1931.

The flow has increased incrementally over time,” he said.

“The environmental groups have pointed the finger at fertilizers and farmers,” Dr. Lapointe continued. However, in the Treasure Coast area, “since the year 2000, we have seen acreage of citrus go down by 70 percent.” While the acreage in agriculture has shrunk, the human population has grown, and in a lot of the urbanized areas 50 percent of the residents use septic tanks, he continued. “The problems in the lagoon are population growth and inadequate infrastructure,” he said.

Dr. Lapointe said the political and media attention on plans for a reservoir south of the lake is a distraction from the larger problem. “Building a reservoir to the south is not going to protect Lake Okeechobee,” he said, adding that at best, the Everglades Agricultural Area reservoir will reduce flow to the coastal estuaries by about 15 percent.
“The water causing the problem is coming from north of the lake,” he said.

Dr. Lapointe said those who propose solutions that are not based on sound science confuse the public and make it harder to solve the water quality problems.

He said his own research points to septic tanks as a major source of nutrient overload in the sensitive watershed. Dr. Lapointe has used stable nitrogen isotopes to “fingerprint” nitrogen sources.

“Septic tanks are a major source of nitrogen feeding algae blooms in Florida,” he explained. According to the Florida Department of Health, Florida has 2.6 million septic tanks. About 39 percent of Floridians rely on septic systems, he said. Compounding the problem, while in most states septic tanks are used in rural areas, in Florida they are found in heavily populated coastal areas.

“Septic systems provide only primary treatment and are not designed to remove nutrients, bacteria, viruses, pharmaceutical or organic wastewater compounds,” he said. “There is a lot of poor understanding about septic tanks. People say septic tanks are leaking and we need to check them. Septic tanks are designed to leak.” Even a properly functioning septic tank that has been pumped out regularly in accordance with Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recommendations releases effluent rich in nitrogen and phosphorus back into the watershed. He said septic tanks have two basic components: A tank that holds the solids and the drain field. Liquid effluent from the tank flows to the drain field.

Building codes call for 2 feet of soil between the septic tank and the water table, he said. EPA recommends 3 to 4 feet of separation. In many parts of Florida, the water tables are too high for sufficient separation between the septic tank and the water table. In addition, Florida has seasonal movement of groundwater. During the rainy season, the water table moves up. The type of soil also makes a difference, and in many parts of Florida the soil is not suitable for a septic tank to function properly. If the soil is too coarse, wastewater passes too quickly to receive sufficient treatment. Contaminants in the effluent travel through the soil. If they are not treated adequately, these contaminants reach the groundwater and ultimately pollute the surface water, he said.

“During major rain events, you get major movement of the septic plumes,” he said. If septic tanks are near the ocean, there is also a problem with tidal pumping. “As the tide goes out, we get enhanced flow of those plumes into the coastal ocean.”

“We are never going to replace every septic tank in Florida,” he said, but if a septic tank must be used in a sensitive watershed, there are hybrid systems that can remove nutrients and contaminants. He said the American Society of Civil Engineers estimated Florida needs about $18 billion to upgrade wastewater infrastructure.

“The state needs to step up and take leadership on this problem because the state permitted all of these septic tanks,” he said.

He said Florida must “go to war” against algae. “Bad decisions have already cost this state dearly,” he said.

After Hurricane Irma hit South Florida in September 2017, the water level in Lake Okeechobee rose to a high of 17 feet. That high water level had a devastating effect on all the submerged vegetation on the lake, including hydrilla, eel grass and pepper grass, which grow best at around a lake level of 9 […]

]]>After Hurricane Irma hit South Florida in September 2017, the water level in Lake Okeechobee rose to a high of 17 feet. That high water level had a devastating effect on all the submerged vegetation on the lake, including hydrilla, eel grass and pepper grass, which grow best at around a lake level of 9 to 11 feet.

According to Florida Audubon Society’s Okeechobee science coordinator, Dr. Paul Gray, the vegetation on the lake has shrunk to around 5,000 acres, down from around 42,000 acres back in 2012.

That vegetation plays an important role in the ecology of the lake, especially when it relates to fishing. It provides a spawning ground for fish species during the wet season and cover for those same fish as they grow and increase in size.

But thanks to a particularly parched dry season over the last few months, there is hope that some of that vegetation will be able to recover. Currently, the lake level is sitting at around 12 feet, close to the range that will allow sunlight to hit the bottom of the lake and germinate the seeds of the lake grass.

“Most years we don’t want to go under 12 feet,” explained Dr. Gray. “But since we’re in recovery mode, going down to 11 feet for around three months will help restart those plants and help recover the lake. Because it’s got big problems now from having that 17 feet from Irma.”

If the lake does stay at around 11 feet for a good portion of the dry season, it should benefit the bass and crappie population in the lake as well as help clear the water around the marsh.

Still, there is a balance. If the water level falls under 9 feet, the seeds won’t be able to germinate and the lake will still be facing the same problems.

“I was in a meeting last week with scientists from the district and the Florida Wildlife Commission, and it was unanimous in the room that everybody wanted the lake to get to 11 feet because that’s what it is going to take to get those plants back,” said Dr. Gray. “I know lower levels make navigation inconvenient and that’s unfortunate, but we gotta take our medicine to get well.”

Tourism to the lake, especially fishing, brings in a significant amount of money to the Lake Okeechobee area. Fishing League Worldwide has hosted multiple tournaments on the lake, and fishing camps and resorts like Roland & Mary Ann Martin’s Marina in Clewiston rely on the lake to provide good fishing. If the lake continues to lose vegetation, it could be devastating to the local economy.

But Dr. Gray says he has confidence that things will rebound.

“This has happened before and we’ve been able to recover before,” Dr. Gray concluded. “We just have to get it going again.”

WEST PALM BEACH — The South Florida Water Management District Governing Board wants science to determine any changes to the Lake Okeechobee Regulation Schedule (LORS). At their Jan. 10 meeting in West Palm Beach, the board authorized entering into a contract with the University of Florida Board of Trustees for an independent scientific review to […]

]]>WEST PALM BEACH — The South Florida Water Management District Governing Board wants science to determine any changes to the Lake Okeechobee Regulation Schedule (LORS).

At their Jan. 10 meeting in West Palm Beach, the board authorized entering into a contract with the University of Florida Board of Trustees for an independent scientific review to inform development of the new Lake Okeechobee Regulation Schedule (LORS) at a total cost not to exceed $306,303, for which funds are budgeted.

“I’ve had the opportunity to be out with Paul Gray of Audubon on the lake,” said SFWMD Governing Board member Brandon Tucker. “I’ve had the opportunity to be out with Scott Martin on the lake last week.

“The liquid heart of the Everglades is Lake Okeechobee. The health of the Everglades is the health of Lake Okeechobee. We want a healthy heart. “As we go through this discussion on LORS, we must make sure we protect Lake Okeechobee at all costs,” he said.

“I am extremely supportive of the district’s efforts to bring in an independent science review before we open up the LORS review,” said Governing Board member Jaime Weisinger. “I think that people tend to keep their own interests in mind and arbitrarily pick winners and losers when deciding these things,” he said.

“I look forward to using the science to decide what is best for the system.”

Chairman Federico Fernandez said the stakeholders in his “neck of the woods” in Miami-Dade County are concerned about a variety of issues including water quality and sea level rise. He said the “liquid heart” of the Everglades system, Lake Okeechobee, serves a variety of needs. “I hope a lot the people who live on the east and west coasts also view it that way,” Mr. Fernandez added. “We can find ways to find a quicker solution than we have seen over the past few years,” said John Hinshaw during the public comment period.

Traditionally, discussions about LORS have focused on water supply and flood control, he said. The health issues and economic issues for the coastal estuaries should also be considered, Mr. Hinshaw said.Moving clean water south is definitely needed, he added. “We all are asking a lot from a flood control system, a water supply system, a natural system,” said Nyla Pipes of One Florida Foundation.

“We know it is going to be an intense discussion. There will be people who sit on one side of the ecosystem who need something from it that is at direct odds with somebody who sits in a different location.

“It’s really important that we move forward and let science guide the way,” Ms. Pipes said. “We talk around Lake Okeechobee. “We talk about Lake Okeechobee as if it’s a bad thing, as if it’s this horrible, awful place. “That lake is also a huge part of this ecosystem,” she continued. “That heart is often forgotten in these conversations,” Ms. Pipes said.

“Going too high or too low is important from an ecological health standpoint,” she said. “Let’s not forget about the lake as we fight all around it.”

“I support this study,” said Newton Cook of United Waterfowlers Florida.

He said a lot of work went into the current LORS before it was finalized in 2008.

“We quickly found out right away that the lake over 15.5 feet is bad for the lake, terrible for the lake, horrible for the lake,” he said. “We’re down to about 20 percent of our vegetation now because of Irma and too high a lake for too long.

“We also know it’s extremely important that the lake go to 10 feet every few years, mostly that happens when there is a drought. Mr. Cook said extreme low lake levels during a drought renews the vegetation around the edges of the lake and settles the colloidal suspension. “The health of the lake is the most important part of the entire system, from Orlando to the Keys,” he said. “If the lake is not healthy, the system will never be healthy,” he said. “That is what we need to keep our eye on.”

Following Gov. Ron DeSantis’ request that all members of the South Florida Water Management District Governing Board resign, two board members have agreed to step down. Dan O’Keefe and Carlos Diaz have given their letters of resignation. SFWMD Governing Board members are unpaid volunteers. All of those on the board at the time Gov. DeSantis […]

]]>Following Gov. Ron DeSantis’ request that all members of the South Florida Water Management District Governing Board resign, two board members have agreed to step down.

Dan O’Keefe and Carlos Diaz have given their letters of resignation.

SFWMD Governing Board members are unpaid volunteers. All of those on the board at the time Gov. DeSantis took office had been appointed by Gov. Rick Scott.
Mr. O’Keefe, whose term would have expired in March 2020, represented Polk, Glades, Orange, Osceola, Highlands and Okeechobee counties.

Mr. Diaz, who was appointed by Gov. Scott but had not yet been confirmed by the Senate, would have represented Broward County for a term expiring in 2022.

Melanie Peterson had already left the unpaid position before the governor called for the board to resign. She resigned effective Jan. 1, citing the need to devote more time to her business.

Even without more resignations, the governor will soon have the opportunity to replace three of the remaining SFWMD Governing Board members as their terms will expire in March. That means that in two months, six of the nine SFWMD board members could be DeSantis appointees.

• Federico Fernandez, representing Miami-Dade County, whose term expires in March 2020;

• Brandon Tucker, an at-large member for an area that includes St. Lucie, Martin, Palm Beach, Broward, Miami-Dade and Monroe counties,whose term expires in March 2021; and,

• Sam Accursio, who represents Miami-Dade County. His term expires in March 2019.

]]>https://bellegladesun.com/lake-okeechobee/two-more-sfwmd-board-members-resign/feed/0Belle Glade Sun6091Water flow issues start in northern Evergladeshttps://bellegladesun.com/lake-okeechobee/water-flow-issues-start-in-northern-everglades/
https://bellegladesun.com/lake-okeechobee/water-flow-issues-start-in-northern-everglades/#respondWed, 09 Jan 2019 17:14:03 +0000https://bellegladesun.com/?p=6058You walk into your bathroom and see the bathtub is overflowing. What would you do? Would you run a hose out the window? Would you gather up pots and pans to store the water? Would you buy a bigger bathtub? Or, would you turn off the tap, and attempt to unclog the drain? Think of […]]]>You walk into your bathroom and see the bathtub is overflowing. What would you do? Would you run a hose out the window? Would you gather up pots and pans to store the water? Would you buy a bigger bathtub? Or, would you turn off the tap, and attempt to unclog the drain?

Think of Lake Okeechobee as a bathtub. During the rainy season, water pours in much too fast from the north – as much as six times faster than it can be released through existing structures.

Making matters worse, the flow south is often blocked. The bottom end of the system is dammed by the Tamiami Trail. Flow under raised portions of the roadway is limited six months of the year to protect the nesting area of an endangered bird. So, the overflow is released east and west.

Freshwater releases from the lake to the Caloosahatchee and St. Lucie rivers are blamed for disrupting salinity levels which make those estuaries — already nutrient-rich from runoff into the local basins — ripe for algae blooms. (The lake water is also often unfairly blamed for the nutrient load in those estuaries despite the University of Florida Water Institute studies’ findings that most of the excess phosphorus and nitrogen comes from direct runoff into the Caloosahatchee River and the St. Lucie Canal.)

While some are quick to blame the lake for the algae blooms in the coastal waterways, or demand water managers to “restore the flow” and “send it south,” the answer is not that simple. If it were possible to restore the natural flow, much of the water that is released east and west to the coastal estuaries during the rainy season would not flow south because it would evaporate into the air or percolate into the earth long before it ever reached the lake.

Consider: The original Everglades starts at Shingle Creek.

Currently, the heaviest flow of water into the lake comes down “the ditch” — what locals call the channelized Kissimmee River. Water managers call it the C-38 Canal. The Kissimmee River once meandered for 103 miles, through curves that according to Seminole legend were created by the writhing of a giant snake. During the wet season, the river’s floodplain reached up to 3 miles across. In the 1960s, the Kissimmee River was channelized by cutting and dredging a 30-feet-deep straightaway through the river’s meanders. This flood control project drained land for urban development and agriculture in the northern Everglades.

According to the Florida Oceanographic Society, before the Kissimmee River was channelized, it took six to eight months for rainfall from the upper Kissimmee River Basin to sheetflow slowly down to Lake Okeechobee. Now that hydrological trip takes just weeks.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers estimates that a storm that drops 1 foot of rainfall over the Lake Okeechobee basin could result in a 3- or 4-foot rise in the lake’s water level in a matter of weeks. In 2017 after Hurricane Irma, as water drained rapidly from the northern watersheds, the lake level rose 3 feet in less than a month.

That’s where the problem starts. The speed at which the Kissimmee River valley drains, thanks to modern flood control, increases the volume of water entering the lake from the north.

The explosion of development at the top of the system in the Orlando area has also increased the volume of water draining into the river. Every rooftop, every driveway, every road, every parking lot, every shopping center, everything that prevents water from soaking into the earth increases the amount and the speed of the runoff.

The faster-moving water is also higher in nutrient load. When the water sheetflowed slowly, the plants growing in the marshes that spread out for miles along the river helped to clean it as the marsh plants fed on the nutrients in the water. The marshes were a natural filter system. In addition, the increased human population means an increase in the nutrient load in the runoff.

Another factor to consider: Many longtime residents theorize that the dredging of the channel to straighten the winding river may have dug through natural phosphorus deposits.

According to the research of environmental reporter Twila Valentine, who covered Everglades issues for the Okeechobee News for decades, before the Kissimmee River was channelized, the river contributed about a third of the water and only about 3 to 4 percent of the phosphorus entering Lake Okeechobee each year.

Today, according to South Florida Water Management District data, the river contributes about half of the total flow into Lake Okeechobee, and about 36 percent of the phosphorus.

Florida Department of Environmental Protection reports presented at Lake Okeechobee Basin Management (BMAP) meetings have pointed to the connection between the heavier flow to the lake and the increase in phosphorus.

FDEP has set the target for the water in Lake Okeechobee at 40 parts per billion of phosphorus. Based on the most recent five-year average, water flowing into the lake from the Upper Kissimmee Basin averages 78 ppb, and water from the Lower Kissimmee Basin averages 201 ppb.

The problem is twofold, with both too much phosphorus in the water for the lake to handle as well as too much water, coming in too fast.

The water flowing into the coastal estuaries isn’t coming FROM the lake; it’s coming THROUGH the lake.

Flow south from the lake has also changed. Before man’s interference in the natural system, water flowed from the lake into the Everglades during the wet season when the lake filled up and spilled out through the marshes south. During the wet season, water from the lake also flowed west through a series of marshes and smaller lakes that fed the Caloosahatchee River.

Thanks to the modern flood control system, water now flows south through canals year-round. Flow to the south is limited in part by the capacity of the canals that carry water from Lake Okeechobee south, and by the requirements for flood control in the urban areas beyond the East Coast Protection Levee. Flow south is also limited by a man-made dam at the bottom of the system, a roadway that runs coast to coast from Tampa to Miami, bisecting the southern Everglades. What was once a natural sheetflow to Everglades National Park and Florida Bay is blocked by the Tamiami Trail. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has estimated about 11 miles of raised bridging is needed to restore flow south, but only 3.6 miles of bridging has been funded. The Department of the Interior also restricts flow under the trail to protect the nesting area of the endangered Cape Sable sea sparrow.

The Kissimmee River Restoration Project, scheduled for completion in 2020, will restore flow to about 44 miles of the original winding river. The project is expected to have some water quality benefits, but it was not designed as a water quality project.

]]>https://bellegladesun.com/lake-okeechobee/water-flow-issues-start-in-northern-everglades/feed/06058EAA Reservoir won’t be ‘designed on the back of a napkin’https://bellegladesun.com/lake-okeechobee/eaa-reservoir-wont-be-designed-on-the-back-of-a-napkin/
https://bellegladesun.com/lake-okeechobee/eaa-reservoir-wont-be-designed-on-the-back-of-a-napkin/#respondWed, 12 Dec 2018 17:39:38 +0000https://bellegladesun.com/?p=5965

WEST PALM BEACH – The Everglades Foundation’s claim at the Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA) reservoir could be designed, engineered and constructed in four years is confusing the public at a time South Florida residents should be united in supporting construction of the reservoir, according to some members of the Water Resources Analysis Coalition who reviewed […]

]]>WEST PALM BEACH – The Everglades Foundation’s claim at the Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA) reservoir could be designed, engineered and constructed in four years is confusing the public at a time South Florida residents should be united in supporting construction of the reservoir, according to some members of the Water Resources Analysis Coalition who reviewed the EAA reservoir plan at their Dec. 6 meeting in West Palm Beach.

South Florida Water Management officials have said two years is the “best case scenario” for design and engineering work required before construction can begin. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has estimated design and engineering will taken about three years.

The massive reservoir will cover more than 10,000 acres and hold water more than 20 feet deep.

Lt. Col. Jennifer Reynolds of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said that while some environmental groups have complained that the Corps estimation of three years to design and engineer the reservoir and at least four years to build it is too long to wait, from her point of view “the speed that this project is moving is record-breaking.”

Large federally-funded construction projects like this traditionally move very slowly, she explained.

She said Corps products are not done quickly, but they work.

“We don’t design large infrastructure like this on the back of a napkin,” said Lt. Col. Reynolds, “Our projects are built to ensure the public safety of those who live and work in the vicinity of our projects.”

The EAA reservoir project has been approved by Congress and the president, but the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will not start design work until they receive a federal funding appropriation.

The dike around the EAA reservoir will be about the same height as the Herbert Hoover Dike around Lake Okeechobee. But unlike the earthen Hoover Dike, constructed in the 1930s through the 1960s with whatever materials were dredged from what would become the Rim Canal, the EAA dike will be carefully engineered. Engineers will plan the materials to be used, gather geotechnical data prior to construction, and carefully study the hydrology of the area before construction starts.

SFWMD Chief Engineer John Mitnik said the lease on the state-owned 16,000 acres designated for the reservoir and a storm water treatment area (STA) was amended last month so the district could immediately take possession of 560 acres that will be between the reservoir and the STA. Three sugar cane fields are being plowed under so that area can be used to store rocks that will be used to build the reservoir. Materials for the reservoir will also be mined on the site.

“In three weeks they have cleared two of the former sugar cane fields and started clearing the third field,” he said.

“Any materials prepositioned there can be used in construction of the STA or the reservoir,” he explained.

SFWMD will set up some temporary pumps to expedite the removal of water from Flow Equalization Basin (FEB) to recover rocks left there when the plans for the original EAA reservoir were abandoned in 2008.

Around 800,000 to 1 million cubic yards of rock and material has been sitting in the FEB since the termination of the original reservoir plan, he said.

They will move as much material as quickly as possible before the wet season starts. During the wet season, the FEB will be under water.

“On Monday, two geotechnical drill rigs showed up on site,” Mr. Mitnik continued. “We are starting the geotechnical testing around the perimeter of the reservoir, to support design efforts of the reservoir.”

Lt. Col. Reynolds said the advance work done by SFWMD will give the Corps a head start when funding does come through to start the design work.

All of the site investigation and data collection going on is the same data collection required for any large project, she explained.

Water managers have also dismissed the idea that the 16,000 acres could be used to store water before the reservoir is built.

Mike Elfenbein, from the The Foundation for Balanced Environmental Stewardship, said he is tired of the “righteous indignation in the media” over the idea of storing water on flat farmland.

“I commonly see it written that this land could have been used to store water,” he said. “I don’t think it could. From what I understand about storing water, you have to have infrastructure to do so.”

Berming the 16,000 acres to hold water would require a design and engineering plan and construction funding, Mr. Elfenbein continued. It would also take time to design and engineer.

CLEWISTON — Advocates of clean water in Florida are jumping on a bandwagon that started rolling late last summer when marine life expert Jim Abernethy of West Palm Beach started a Change.org petition calling for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to cease its spraying of herbicides in freshwater lakes. Mr. Abernethy, who’s won […]

]]>CLEWISTON — Advocates of clean water in Florida are jumping on a bandwagon that started rolling late last summer when marine life expert Jim Abernethy of West Palm Beach started a Change.org petition calling for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to cease its spraying of herbicides in freshwater lakes.

Mr. Abernethy, who’s won awards for conservationist work in photographing, filming and writing about marine life, put up the petition Aug. 21 and planned to make a presentation about it to the FWC on Wednesday, Dec. 12, during the public input period at its regularly scheduled two-day meeting at Renaissance World Golf Village in St. Augustine.

As this is written, as of 11:30 a.m. Tuesday, that petition had garnered 167,575 signatures online.

The Change.org document explains that Mr. Abernethy and a small team had spent the previous weeks investigating aspects of the red tide and algae blooms that plagued the state in 2018. “I have stumbled upon a huge, overlooked, constant nutrient feeding and polluting of Lake Okeechobee that can be stopped very easily and immediately!” he declared, pointing to the spraying of herbicides including compounds containing glyphosate.

Special to the Lake Okeechobee News/Courtesy of James AbernethyFWC employs private contractors at a cost of millions of dollars a year in Florida to spray waterbodies in an effort to control invasive hydrilla.

Ramon Iglesias, who manages Roland and Mary Ann Martin’s Marina & Resort in Clewiston and recently started the organization Anglers for Lake O, has been saying along with fellow sportfishermen and other local advocates for years that the spraying has been “killing” the Lake Okeechobee fisheries. He has been pushing for support from fellow sportsmen online, touting Mr. Abernethy’s plea.

(Mr. Iglesias notes that the FWC will accept comments in person from citizens at Wednesday’s meeting, or they can defer their podium time to Mr. Abernethy for his presentation, or they can email comments if not able to attend, to Commissioners@MyFWC.com.)

Mr. Abernethy’s petition claims that the red tide “is very much like a small campfire; under normal conditions, it would not affect much … but we are dumping millions of gallons of gasoline onto this small fire and burning Florida and all its wildlife to the ground!

“Our own Florida government through the FWC is spraying poison in all our lakes, rivers, canals and even Lake Okeechobee in an effort to kill an invasive aquatic plant called hydrilla. Hundreds of permitted contractors are all over the state, still spraying poison into our aquifers (90 percent of Floridians’ water source) Monday through Friday, 40 hours a week, for the last 40 years,” it says, adding that the main ingredient of glyphosate recently drove Monsanto to pay nearly $300 million to settle a lawsuit because it was found to cause cancer by being linked to non-Hodgkins lymphoma.

The petition quotes two scientists as saying that glyphosate is aggravating the conditions leading to algae blooms and red tide. Dr. James Douglass, associate professor of marine and ecological studies at Florida Gulf Coast University, said the herbicides kill vegetation, which then releases nutrients that fuel the growth of algae and red tide organisms. Also: “… (T)he herbicide itself, the chemical when it breaks down, it breaks down into forms of phosphates that are actually a nutrient that fuels the growth of algae. In addition to that, if this hydrilla plant, as well as the others that are being killed, were alive, they would be removing nutrients every single day!”

And Dr. Geoffrey Norris, a geologist and algae fossil specialist who is a University of Toronto professor emeritus, stated: “Glyphosate is of particular concern since it has been used heavily in the agriculture areas around Lake Okeechobee and upstream in the Kissimmee River watershed for at least 25 years. Glyphosate provides a source of phosphorous for blue-green algae, and recent research shows that it enhances the growth of blue-green bacteria and actually become tolerant and absorb glyphosate directly.” He said that, further, “Because blue-green algae can make their own supply of nitrogen, they only need other important elements to survive, and one of those is phosphorus.

Among many items on the agenda for the FWC meeting is its Marine Fisheries Management Annual Workplan, as well as Fishery Management Council reports from both the South Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico regions — the areas most severely affected this year by red tide and blue-green algae blooms, which many coastal observers blame on polluted waters released from Lake Okeechobee.

Eight more people signed the petition since the third paragraph of this story was written — 167,583 as of noon Tuesday, Dec. 11.

Read the petition at change.org/p/florida-stop-the-state-sanctioned-poisoning-of-our-lakes-and-rivers/u/23167599.

Lake Okeechobee is one of the water sources critical to supplying water for the growing population of the Lower East Coast under the South Florida Water Management District Lower East Coast (LEC) Water Supply Plan. At their Nov. 8 meeting, the SFWMD Governing Board approved an update of the Lower East Coast Water Supply Plan, […]

]]>Lake Okeechobee is one of the water sources critical to supplying water for the growing population of the Lower East Coast under the South Florida Water Management District Lower East Coast (LEC) Water Supply Plan.

At their Nov. 8 meeting, the SFWMD Governing Board approved an update of the Lower East Coast Water Supply Plan, which ensures there will be enough drinking water for the more than 6 million residents of South Florida’s lower east coast region.

The LEC Water Supply Plan directly protects water sources in Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade counties and parts of Monroe, Collier and Hendry counties for the next 20 years.

According to the plan, current water supply source options in the LEC Planning Area include surface water, groundwater (fresh and brackish), reclaimed water, and seawater. Surface water from canals, lakes, and water conservation areas, and fresh groundwater from the surficial aquifer system (SAS) are considered traditional water sources. Alternative water sources include brackish groundwater from the Floridan aquifer system (FAS), seawater, reclaimed water, and excess surface water and groundwater captured and stored in aquifer storage and recovery (ASR) wells, reservoirs, and other storage features. Use of alternative water supplies is an integral part of the current and future water supply strategy in the LEC Planning Area. Public water supply utilities within the LEC Planning Area primarily rely on fresh groundwater from the SAS, with limited use of the FAS and one utility using surface water.

Groundwater sources can meet 2040 public water supply demands; however, increases in fresh groundwater allocations are limited to comply with resource protection criteria, the plan states. Of the 54 public water supply utilities in the LEC Planning Area, nine will need to construct new projects to meet their projected 2040 demands, and six of those will need additional permit allocations. These new projects include expanded use of the FAS and use of the C-51 Reservoir, both of which are alternative water sources, or interconnections for bulk water from nearby utilities.

Approximately three-quarters of the total agricultural acreage in the LEC Planning qrea is in the Everglades Agricultural Area, which relies exclusively on surface water. There are two other agricultural areas in the LEC Planning Area that rely on fresh groundwater: southern Miami-Dade County and the eastern portion of Hendry County. In those areas, according to the report, groundwater sources can meet 2040 agriculture demands; however increases in fresh groundwater allocations are limited by resource protection criteria.

The future water use plan projects agriculture use will decrease by 4 percent, and the urban demand will increase by 26 percent by 2040. During years with normal rainfall, there is sufficient water supply. Drought years can bring water shortages.

“No one can predict whether Mother Nature will leave our district with a deluge of water or create a drought. That is important to remember when advocating for lower lake levels in Lake Okeechobee,” said SFWMD Governing Board Chairman and Miami-Dade County resident, Federico Fernandez. “The Lower East Coast Water Supply Plan considers Lake Okeechobee water essential to replenishing the region’s drinking water wellfields and ensuring their water supply.”

The Lower East Coast’s approximately 6 million residents, businesses, industries and agricultural operations use almost 1.7 billion gallons of water per day, according to SFWMD data. SFWMD updates regional water supply plans every five years. The plans identify water sources in relation to water demand over the next 20 years.

The update approved by the Governing Board estimates the LEC’s population will increase by about 26 percent by 2040, resulting in 7.5 million residents by 2040. Demand for water in the LEC is expected to increase to more than 2 billion gallons per day.

According to a SFWMD press release, efforts by SFWMD and utilities to promote water reuse and conservation have helped control the demand for water amid an ever-increasing population.

The plan update also anticipates the potential impact of sea level rise on water supply by 2040. The plan specifically takes into account the potential threat of salt water intruding farther into underground freshwater wellfields that are used to supply drinking water to residents. SFWMD works with the U.S. Geological Survey to map the underground saltwater front every five years. The next SFWMD saltwater intrusion mapping will be conducted in 2019.

Maintaining adequate levels of water in Lake Okeechobee also helps combat sea level rise and encroachment of saltwater intrusion because it allows SFWMD to move water into canals to recharge underground aquifers during the dry season, according to the report. If levels in the lake were kept too low during dry periods, SFWMD would be unable to supply enough fresh water to conservation areas and canals to keep the underground saltwater front from moving farther inland. This scenario could potentially endanger the drinking water supply of millions of residents.

The South Florida Water Management District’s (SFWMD) Governing Board voted Nov. 8 to approve an eight-year lease with Florida Crystals on 16,150 acres of state land in the footprint of the future site of the Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA) reservoir. After 20 months, SFWMD can terminate the lease with four months’ notice, if SFWMD is […]

]]>The South Florida Water Management District’s (SFWMD) Governing Board voted Nov. 8 to approve an eight-year lease with Florida Crystals on 16,150 acres of state land in the footprint of the future site of the Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA) reservoir. After 20 months, SFWMD can terminate the lease with four months’ notice, if SFWMD is ready to start construction of the reservoir.

The plan will immediately terminate the lease on 560 acres of state land, so that SFWMD can start some site work before the design work for the reservoir even starts.

Although SFWMD officials maintain this plan will expedite construction of the EAA reservoir while following the dictates of the 2016 Florida Senate Bill 10 (SB 10), the agreement immediately drew criticism from the Everglades Foundation, Congressman Brian Mast and Florida Audubon.

“This Governing Board is in agreement that a year like 2018 was a travesty for South Florida waterways. Directing staff to take the next steps to prepare the project site puts us one step closer to providing relief for the northern estuaries and sending additional clean water to the Everglades once federal funding is secured,” said SFWMD Governing Board Chairman Federico Fernandez. “I have read comments in the press that all parties would like to see work begin on the EAA Reservoir in March 2019. With this vote, our board is saying why wait until then? Let’s begin the process now.”
The Florida Legislature authorized the reservoir through the passage of SB 10 as a partnership with the federal government. The Florida Legislature has committed to funding the state’s half of the estimated $1.6 billion cost. The U.S. Congress authorized the project last month, but Florida is still waiting for the federal government to commit to funding its share of the project cost.

Special to the Lake Okeechobee News/SFWMDThe EAA Reservoir and stormwater treatment area will be built on the A-2 parcel, which was already in state ownership, and 490 acres of land just west of the A-2 parcel purchased in April 2018 from Seventh Day Adventist Church Memorial Fund. Most of the land is currently leased for farming. Site work will start this week to begin storing rock on 590 acres so that construction materials will be ready when design and engineering work is complete.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has estimated engineering and design work will take about three years, and construction will take another four years. The corps won’t start work until the federal share of the project budget is appropriated.

The state already owns the land it plans to use for the reservoir. Most of it was purchased two decades ago. A small piece of property adjacent to state property was acquired within the past year. Most of the land has been leased for farming, in accordance with state law. Leasing the land to farmers keeps the land on the tax rolls until the state is ready to use it. The farmers also manage the land, which would quickly be overrun with invasive plants if left fallow.

At the Nov. 8 SFWMD Governing Board meeting at the University of Miami, Brian Accardo, SFWMD general counsel, explained that in regard to leases that will expire during fiscal year 2018-19, Florida law requires “the district shall execute, renegotiate, extend or amend agreements, including reasonable notice and termination provisions, so that the land does not sit fallow and provides maximum public benefit. Any such agreements shall provide that agricultural operators shall be permitted to continue to farm on a field-by-field basis until such time as the agricultural operations are incompatible with site preparation, on-site investigation or construction for an Everglades Agricultural Areas reservoir project, as reasonably determined by the lessor.

He said new leases will reflect a transition from use of the land for agriculture to use for water storage.

“This reflects a policy decision by the legislature,” he said.

“It’s actually good practice to keep the ag operations on there until we are ready to construct,” he explained. He said ceasing agriculture use and allowing the land to go back to its natural state could impede the eventual construction of the reservoir.

Mr. Accardo said taking it down on a field-by-field basis saves the state the cost of managing the land until they are ready to turn dirt. SFWMD staff proposes to do site work on a parallel path with the USACE design, he explained. In the next 90 days, the corps has been directed to go back and address questions dealing with dam safety and water quality cost share. The state is authorized to bond up to $800 million for this project. He said they will use 560 acres to store rock and fill so it will be ready when construction begins.

“We are proposing to immediately work within our existing contracting mechanism to start moving rock,” he said. SFWMD will “immediately take down 560 acres of the existing leases right now for site work.”

He said they hope design work can start early in 2019, but the corps can’t start the design work until the project receives a federal appropriation.

“We are proposing eight-year leases on approximately 16,150 acres of state-owned land. The land will be fully available for unrestricted construction after 20 months, with a four-month notice to vacate upon construction award.

“Eight years is not random. Eight years is what your staff thinks is an optimistic but reasonable construction schedule,” he said. “If our wildest dreams are realized, and we can start constructing this reservoir, with the full design and a full federal partner … within two years we can get out of the entire lease. The reason why we picked 20 months is that with your most optimistic and reasonable path to design, it’s going to take two years to design this project.”

“While this lease is in effect, we will receive about $1 million in annual revenue,” said Mr. Accardo. That money could be used for control of exotic vegetation in the wildlife refuge.

Celeste De Palma of Audubon Florida said she was disappointed with the way the item was posted to the SFWMD agenda the night before the meeting.

“This is a badly needed project,” she said. She said the lease limits the way the district can move water around within the system.
“The leases you have on this land do not expire until March 2019,” she said. “What is the rush?”

U.S. Rep. Brian Mast, R-18th District, asked the SFWMD to postpone the vote on the lease. He said he attended the meeting as a member of Congress and as a representative of Republican gubernatorial candidate Ron DeSantis.

“These leases do not end until March. The governor-elect as well as federal legislators would like to be briefed and be able to know we are not putting in place additional hurdles to bringing this reservoir to fruition. We want to know that any new land leases … are not something that are going to be impossible to get out of,” said Rep. Mast.

Mike Collins, of the Water Resources Analysis Coalition, said SB 10 is very specific: The law states SFWMD is to keep agriculture on the land as long as possible until work on the EAA reservoir starts. “You are going to lose at least a year if you don’t obey the legislature,” he said.

Mr. Collins said the people who are now trying to delay the leases are the same people who 10 years ago tried to block the original construction of the EAA reservoir. (Construction of the EAA reservoir initially started as part of Gov. Jeb Bush’s 2004 Acceler-8 plan. Construction of the reservoir halted in 2007 after environmentalist groups filed a lawsuit. That reservoir plan was abandoned after then-Gov. Charlie Crist took office and promoted his own ‘River of Grass’ plan.) “We were half-finished with the reservoir. We would have had it done by 2010,” said Mr. Collins.

“We make our living in agriculture. I encourage you to follow what the Florida Legislature directed in SB 10,” said Tammy Jackson-Moore of Guardians of the Glades. “It is discouraging that there are some who just want to ignore Senate Bill 10.”

Mr. Accardo said delaying approval of the changes to the leases would delay the EAA reservoir project. The new lease makes it possible to start using the 560 acres immediately for mining and storing rock for the reservoir. If they wait until spring (and the looming wet season) to vote on the lease, they won’t be able to do that, he said.

The governing board also directed staff to move forward with geotechnical work on the site. This is necessary for finalizing the project design by drilling, soil sampling and testing the foundation materials around the proposed reservoir’s 17.6-mile perimeter.

Eva Velez, SFWMD’s director of Everglades policy and coordination, said removing agriculture before they are ready to build the reservoir would delay the project because invasive plants would quickly take over if the land is not actively managed.

She said with the C-43 reservoir project, because the land sat fallow, threatened and endangered species moved in, “that were not there inside of the project in the beginning,” causing delays and additional cost.

“This lease agreement ensures the EAA reservoir is implemented as the Legislature instructed under SB 10 by keeping farmland in agricultural production until the project is ready for construction,” said Gaston Cantens, vice president of Florida Crystals Corp. “Keeping the land in farming not only protects Florida’s rural jobs and food supply but also continues to generate tax revenue for Palm Beach County and the Everglades Trust Fund. Losing more than 16,700 acres of farmland will be challenging, because it supplies 10 percent of the sugarcane to our mill, but we have always been good partners with the state in helping implement restoration projects, and we are committed to continuing to do so. Florida Crystals has a successful track record managing land and water for the district under similar agreements, including for the current STA-1W expansion, until they are ready to transition to restoration projects.”

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) is conducting aquatic plant control on Lake Okeechobee from Nov. 5-9, weather permitting. There will be an aerial treatment of up to 5,000 acres of invasive water lettuce in the southeastern portion of the lake, including Coot Bay, East Wall, South Bay and Ritta, Torrey and Kreamer […]

There will be an aerial treatment of up to 5,000 acres of invasive water lettuce in the southeastern portion of the lake, including Coot Bay, East Wall, South Bay and Ritta, Torrey and Kreamer Islands. The purpose of this treatment is to improve fish and wildlife habitat.

The treatment will be conducted using herbicides approved by the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

There will be no restrictions on recreational activities on Lake Okeechobee, but the FWC is asking the public to avoid these areas of the lake during the days they are undergoing treatment.

Go to MyFWC.com/WildlifeHabitats and click on “Invasive Plants” to find out more about invasive plant management, including “Frequently Asked Questions.”